Thick Crusted Smoked Turkey

[Silver Siren]

About 50 years ago my dad brought home a turkey smoked by a work-related friend. This turkey had a crust of mild spices 1/8- to 1/4-inch-thick covering the entire bird. It was delicious, the skin was flavorful and not overpowering. Dad has since passed away and I have never read of a recipe like this. Any ideas how this could be accomplished, a thick coating that doesn't overpower the turkey?

Silver

 

[SmokinAl]

First of all, welcome to SMF!
I don’t have a clue what the crust would be made of, but it sure sounds delicious. So hopefully someone will chime in with the ingredients, cause I sure would like to try it too!
Al

 

[Colin1230]

Welcome to the forum Silver Siren, glad you joined us.

That turkey sounds very interesting and delicious. I can see some experimenting going on here. If I were going to take a shot at it I would start with a SPOG rub. Then spray the bird with Pam and coat with Panko. I think I would smoke very lightly at 300-325 so to not burn the coating. I think I would do a bone in, skin on turkey breast first and then decided what adjustments were needed. Does this sound anything close to what you remember?
Again, welcome.

 

[Silver Siren]

First of all, welcome to SMF!
I don’t have a clue what the crust would be made of, but it sure sounds delicious. So hopefully someone will chime in with the ingredients, cause I sure would like to try it too!
Al

Thank you, Al for the welcome and look forward to a lot of searching and some posting.

Dave

 

[Silver Siren]

Welcome to the forum Silver Siren, glad you joined us.

That turkey sounds very interesting and delicious. I can see some experimenting going on here. If I were going to take a shot at it I would start with a SPOG rub. Then spray the bird with Pam and coat with Panko. I think I would smoke very lightly at 300-325 so to not burn the coating. I think I would do a bone in, skin on turkey breast first and then decided what adjustments were needed. Does this sound anything close to what you remember?
Again, welcome.

Thank you for the welcome Colin. This bird was smoked in the late sixties and I doubt panko was even available in rural Oklahoma at the time but it could be well worth trying. I am wondering if the crust didn't start out as a paste of spices and flour or the same but applied dry and if the turkey skin was still wet then a lot would stick to it. As the bird smoked the flour would lightly brown and absorb the fat from the bird plus the smoke.

Thinking the best way to experiment would be with turkey legs once spring rolls around. All I know is it was the best smoked turkey we had ever eaten. Smoking wasn't a big thing in our part of the state at the time and dad never did investigate or enquire how it was done from the old master.

Dave